According to an official release of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) in Bahrain, there has been a surge in the number of foreigners working in the country. Bahrain has also witnessed a rise of 5.1% in the employment figures of Bahrainis. Thus, there was a rise of workers from 488,979 in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 514,156 in the corresponding quarter last year. But, there was also an accretion in the number of locals (i.e. Bahrainis) beginning work in the work places. Thus, there was a rise from 146,739 to 152,473, a rise of 3.9%.

According to the said report, there was also rise in the termination of alien work visas (about a 40.2% increase) and a fall in the issuance of new alien work visas (about a 14.5% decrease).

According to this report, Bahrain’s Labour Market Regulatory Authority issued 30,869 visas during the fourth quarter of last year, of which 24,649 were work visas, 253 investor visas, 475 temporary worker visas and 5,492 dependent visas.

As for visa renewals, the report revealed that the number of visa renewals during the fourth quarter was 40,752 out of which 31,480 visas were for regular workers, 269 visas for investors, 257 visas for temporary workers and 8,746 visas for dependents.

The number of visa renewals in the country increased from 36,028 in the last quarter of 2012 to 40,752 in the present/current quarter.

The number of expatriates who moved or transferred from one employer to another stood at 7,450. Most new work visas which were issued were in the construction sector (26%), followed by the retail sector (25%) and then the manufacturing sector (13%).

According to the report, the ‘hotels and restaurants sector’ was the economic sector which witnessed the highest number of ‘transfers’, and this sector was closely followed by the ‘wholesale and retail trade sector’ and the ‘financial intermediation sector’.

According to the report, the ‘hotels and restaurants sector’ was the economic sector which witnessed the highest number of ‘transfers’, and this sector was closely followed by the ‘wholesale and retail trade sector’ and the ‘financial intermediation sector’.

The report also stated that about 58% of transfers of employees in the fourth quarter last year were undertaken by micro/small units (comprising less than 10 workers).

The average monthly salary of Bahrain’s workers in the private sector was put at BD504 and at BD649 in the public sector.